ULSAN < invest Korea

According to Yonhap News,

(SEOUL = Yonhap News) President Park Geun-hye celebrated the groundbreaking Wednesday for a project to build a massive oil tank terminal at the southeastern port of Ulsan as part of efforts to realize an ambitious goal to turn the port into an oil trading hub in Northeast Asia.

The 1.64 trillion won (US$1.55 billion) project calls for building 68 tanks capable of storing a combined 28.4 million tons of crude and other forms of oil and nine berths for oil tankers between 10,000 tons and 300,000 tons in size at the port by 2020.

"Ulsan can't have better conditions for growing into an oil hub," Park said in a speech at the ceremony. "It is geographically located in the center of Northeast Asia. The port is also endowed with deep water levels and has a refinery and petrochemical cluster on its background."

"Northeast Asia takes up 20 percent of global oil consumption. Oil consumption and trade (in the region) are rising at the fastest pace in the world. These can also serve as opportunities for us," she said. "Today's groundbreaking ceremony is meaningful in that it is the beginning of history to make Ulsan a hub for oil trading in Northeast Asia."

Brisk oil trade through the port can also help South Korea's oil and energy industry combine with logistics, trading and other services to create new markets and jobs, Park said. The project can also help the country's financial services move forward, she said.

"In this sense, I believe the Northeast Asia oil hub project can be a good example of realizing the creative economy in the energy industry," she said, referring to her trademark economic growth vision that calls for creative fusion between industries.

jschang@yna.co.kr

Copyrights Yonhap News. All Rights Reserved.

Source Text

Source: Yonhap News (Nov. 27, 2013)

** This article was translated from the Korean.